


The Cliche Life Of Your Everyday Transmigrated Villainess

by HeavenlyDusk



Category: Original Work
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Historical Fantasy, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Magic, Multi, POV Outsider, Reincarnation, School, Slice of Life, Transmigration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24364537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeavenlyDusk/pseuds/HeavenlyDusk
Summary: By the end of her final year at Saint Katherine's Academy for Gifted Youth, Euthalia Durand's engagement will be broken and she will be cast out of high society in shame. Having spent the last three years preparing, she figures it won't hurt to spend her final year doing whatever she wants.Depending on who you ask, this is either the best thing to have ever happened, or a recipe for absolute disaster.(AKA the stereotypical slice of life villainess isekai that's 100% daily life and probably has no plot whatsoever, as told mostly by others)
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 140
Kudos: 280





	1. The One Where The Villainess Talks Magic

**Author's Note:**

> This is a callout post to Certain People: stop being cursed and maybe one day I'll dedicate something to you.
> 
> So one day I said "I want to write my own villainess isekai and see what I can do with it." I then proceeded to throw any semblance of a plot into the wind and decided a daily life arc is the only way to go. No I do not know if/when this will ever be finished.
> 
> Unfortunately, this story is not my priority so expect sporadic updates. Most of what I write on AO3 is fanfiction and this is mostly just for fun. I do greatly enjoy writing this, though, so who knows?
> 
> Enjoy!

“Okay, that’s all well and good, but I need something out of this deal,” Enea Corvi said, crossing his arms. He eyed the young woman across from him suspiciously. She frowned and hummed lightly in thought.

In the five years since he had last—truly—had a chance to speak with her or even sit in front of her, Euthalia Durand, the only daughter of Duke Durand and fiancée to the Crown Prince of Sharven, had truly become the picture of nobility. Her brown skin marked her clearly as of foreign descent, but her straight back and unforgiving eyes kept anyone from speaking insults her way. Her long black hair fell in waves down her back, pinned by a ribbon except for the bangs hanging over her right eye. She even held her teacup with poise and there was not a single wrinkle in her extravagant blue dress marking her as a student of Saint Katherine’s Academy for Gifted Youth.

In other words, she was every inch _not_ the young girl she used to be.

“When I become a commoner,” Euthalia said evenly, “I would need money. With your assistance, I will have a house and basic living conditions sorted, but obviously I don’t plan on your help beyond that. So I’ve been developing a magical device that I plan to put on the market.”

Enea raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t easy putting something on the magical market, much less being able to make a profit off of it.

It wasn’t that magic was uncommon. Most noble houses had at least one member of the family who awakened an Attribute, and that Attribute was most often inherited. However, the development of magical technology was left to experts, while the nobility focused on developing their own personal magic. As such, it was a very difficult and specialized market, and noblewomen especially didn’t tend to have any part in it.

“You realize that’s hardly foolproof?” Enea said.

Euthalia smiled behind her teacup. “Of course, Lord Corvi; however, I do believe you’ll have an interest in what I have to say. After all, you haven’t changed that much from when we were children, have you?” _Oh_ , that smile.

Enea stilled. He folded his hands in his lap and watched the way Euthalia set down her tea, glee and mischief sparkling in her eyes. It was a familiar look, carefully hidden behind her perfect posture, but that little quirk of her lips was something that he knew. He was surprised he was still able to easily identify it.

“What do you mean, Lady Euthalia?” he said.

“Oh you know,” she said airily, “you’re still an absolute fanatic for magical technology.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m the future Court Magician. It’s part of my duties.”

“Right, right.” Euthalia nodded sagely. “But, you see, that’s not all there is to it. The future Court Magician cannot simply do the work—he must have passion for it as well. You, especially, have always loved magic, to the point where the school has given you free reign of all of the laboratories until evening. How long would you spend in there were you not kicked out?” She taps a gloved finger to her chin. “Ah, that’s right—you wouldn’t leave at all.”

“And how would you know that?”

“When we were ten years old, I showed you my mother’s old lab. The next morning, my father thought he lost you and spent the whole day searching for you. You had gotten so caught up in our lab that you hadn’t left for almost two days.”

All pretense of etiquette was abandoned as Enea slammed one hand down on the table and pointed at her with the other. He wasn’t going to take this _slander._ “If you’ll recall, you also stayed down there with me the whole time,” he accused. “Duke Durand was looking for _both_ of us, and when he found us, it was because it was _your_ experiment that caused an entire section of your house to be engulfed in darkness. And then you put the blame on _me_!”

Euthalia didn’t even flinch. Instead, she grinned, with all her teeth and completely unbefitting of a woman of her station. “Now, now, I never put the blame on you. I told my father quite clearly that it was my fault.”

“He banned me from the laboratory!” Enea exclaimed. “You had to sneak me back in every time I came to your house, and now not only am I no longer allowed in your lab, but I’m not allowed in your house either! All the resources in that wonderful lab, forever lost to a noble who won’t appreciate it.” He collapsed back into his chair, pressed his hand to his eyes. It was a real tragedy. Duke Durand wasn’t known for any interest in magic beyond his late wife’s laboratory, and Euthalia wouldn’t have any opportunity to use it whether or not she became a commoner.

“Oh come off it.” Euthalia rolled her eyes. “It’s not as though the royal labs will be any less impressive.”

“Have you been to the royal labs, Lady Euthalia?”

An odd look crossed her face, and he could have sworn she clicked her tongue. “No. His Majesty believes it to be an unnecessary pastime for the future queen, and His Highness agrees.”

“The royal labs are incredibly Sharven-centric,” Enea explained. “They do have materials from other nations, yes, but the primary focus is on magic here. But your mother—she was a traveling merchant and she hailed from Ifalmn, correct? Magic is different all over the world and your mother had material from so many different kingdoms. If the royal labs had the same regard for other kingdoms that your mother’s lab did, not only would our relations improve, but we would be much more advanced in magical theory and technology than we are now.”

Euthalia’s eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. “Yes, it _is_ rather Sharven-centric around here, isn’t it?” she murmured. Enea didn’t say that she would know better than him.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. This wasn’t what their original meeting was about, and they were no longer children who liked to debate about magical theory in their freetime. “Lady Euthalia,” he said, “we were making a deal. You said that by the end of this academic year, Prince Rene would annul your engagement and you would be cast out of your house to live as a commoner. If I were to ensure you basic living conditions after, what would you give me in return?”

Euthalia blinked in slight surprise and cleared her throat. “Right. What I plan to put on the market is a technology that will allow any two people, anywhere, with any distance between them, to communicate instantaneously, rather than needing to send letters to one another. Once I put it out there, I’ll give you some rights to its production and profit.”

Enea couldn’t help his jaw dropping open. That kind of communication had certainly been a topic of conversation, but no one knew how to make it. Not even he knew what kind of magic would be needed to make it possible.

“ _How?_ ” he demanded. “That’s revolutionary. You have to be absolutely certain that it won’t malfunction. What tests have you done? What kind of magic did you use? I need to confirm it for myself.” If she had really managed it, never mind being a commoner—she could very well work with him in the royal labs.

He remembered, suddenly, that time when they locked themselves in her mother’s lab. While they were pouring over the notes which were a bit too complicated for them at the time, he had heard her murmur something. “ _I’d rather study magic like this than become queen,_ ” she had said. Her engagement would only be finalized three years later, but the nobility had all known it would be coming.

Privately, Enea had thought that she had never been suited for queendom anyhow.

“It’s quite complicated, but I finally figured it out just this summer,” Euthalia began. “It’s a combination of lightning, sound, illusion, and corporeal magics, with a specially designed rune to make it so the spell doesn’t have to be cast continuously for it to work.”

“Lightning and sound? But you have a Spiritual Attribute.”

Magic was divided into two Attributes: Earth and Spiritual. Most people in the Kingdom of Sharven specialized in Earth. Of either Attribute, every person had a natural affinity for some aspect of the attribute. Lightning magic and sound magic were both Earth Attributes. While it wasn’t impossible for someone to learn opposing magic, it’s enough trouble learning magic within one’s own Attribute, much less another. Very few people would bother to try.

“Yes, it was… very annoying,” Euthalia admitted. “But I had help.” Enea found that hard to believe. There were too many negative rumors about her for her to have any real friends to turn to. Or at least, he assumed that was the case. But Euthalia didn’t elaborate and he didn’t ask. All that mattered were the results.

“Okay.” He nodded. “Show me what you came up with then. If it works, you have a deal.”

Euthalia smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one other chapter fully written and maybe four more ideas ready to be written. Don't know when I'll post any of them, whoops ^^;
> 
> All worldbuilding is completely unintentional. The backstory is only somewhat unintentional. Sometimes my hands just do things when I'm not paying attention and we all just have to live with it, which is basically what happened in this chapter.
> 
> More info WILL be given about this world! Just be patient, because most of these chapters are not written in our transmigrated protagonist's pov.


	2. The One Where The Prince Gets Snubbed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter isn't actually finished but I didn't feel like waiting to finish it before posting a chapter I already had written. Also, made minor edits on the last chapter to correct Euthalia's address from "Lady Durand" to "Lady Euthalia" in accordance to how old nobility forms of address work. I won't do this for all titles if only for ease of understanding--for example, I'm not sure what Enea's exact position in nobility would be but I don't think he would be called "Lord Corvi" by Euthalia who's the daughter of a Duke. And, well, I'm not exactly an expert on this time period, so take anything I write about this relative time period with a grain of salt.
> 
> Enjoy!

Prince Rene choked on his tea when he caught sight of the two figures walking their way. “ _Euthalia_?” he said, sounding strangled. Lyssa Roth blinked, surprised by Enea’s appearance and even more surprised by the fact that he wasn’t alone. The future Court Magician was hardly the most sociable person. She had honestly been under the impression he only cared about his magical research.

Standing at Enea’s side was a girl Lyssa only knew by reputation. It wasn’t a very positive reputation, but the majority of the negative rumors were reportedly about how Euthalia Durand, only daughter of Duke Durand and fiancée to Prince Rene vi Sharven, had apparently been harassing her for the past three years.

Lyssa’s only notable interaction with Euthalia Durand was once in first year when she directed Lyssa to the cafeteria, so she didn’t really put much stock in the rumors.

More than that, Enea was looking at her with a smile. It was a small smile, less happy and more teasing, but fond nonetheless. In the three years Lyssa had known him—even if it was mostly an acquaintanceship—she had never known him to smile. He was handsome without it, pale-skinned with dark red hair and purple eyes that always seemed to _know_ , but he was even more attractive when he smiled. Lyssa had the thought that if she were any other girl, she would have fainted already. If Euthalia Durand could make the aloof magician smile, Lyssa was sure that she couldn’t be a bad person.

“Good day, Your Highness,” Euthalia said, dipping into an elegant curtsy.

“What are you doing here?” Rene demanded, setting his teacup down roughly.

“I am still, technically, your fiancée, Prince Rene,” she said dryly. “And besides that, Lord Corvi invited me.”

“Please just call me Enea,” said Enea. Euthalia tapped her fan to her lips, unsmiling except for the amusement in her eyes. Without asking for permission, she took the empty seat at Lyssa’s side. Enea sighed and sat down, too.

“Enea!” Rene snapped, glaring at him.

“There’s nothing wrong with her sitting here, is there?” Enea said. “In fact, she’s doing you a favor. Did you know your reputation has gone down quite a bit every time she’s been found eating alone?” Lyssa’s eyes widened and Rene’s face turned red.

“I _knew_ I shouldn’t be eating with you,” Lyssa said, narrowing her eyes at him. He was a precious friend, but even as a commoner, she knew there had to be some noble convention she was breaking.

“Don’t you worry, Miss Roth,” Euthalia said suddenly, smiling. “I don’t mind that you’ve been sitting with Prince Rene for lunch. Actually, I wouldn’t have come if Enea had only invited me, but he generously gave me this opportunity to speak with you without any prying eyes, so how could I not take it?”

“Uh, me? Really?” Lyssa said, surprised. Despite all the rumors about them, Euthalia had never approached her before and she never thought she would want to. Even if she wasn’t a horrible person, she was still the daughter of a Duke.

“Of course! You’re the sole wielder of Light Magic in this kingdom, aren’t you? I want to know everything about it!” If her ears weren’t deceiving her, Euthalia… was _gushing_. Her eyes even seemed to be shining as she grasped Lyssa’s hands in hers.

Enea let out a loud sigh, rolling his eyes. “Oh there she goes again. This magic freak.”

“What was that, _future court magician_?” Euthalia snapped, turning narrowed red eyes on him. “I don’t want to hear this from someone who literally spent five hours after classes were over yesterday just to geek out in the labs.”

“I was doing important research!”

“‘Important research’ nothing. If you weren’t as talented as you are, _nothing_ could have salvaged the mess you made.”

“I didn’t make a _mess_ —”

“ _Five_ explosions, Enea. _Five_. I’m surprised the silencing spells held up, much less that cleaning spells could work so well!”

“What were you two doing together?” Rene interjected, looking frazzled. His eyes darted between Enea and Euthalia and even his neat blond hair looked a little disarrayed. Lyssa had sort of forgotten he was there. She was caught up in the fact that Euthalia was still holding her hands and her eyes were flashing with some sort of lively, joyful emotion. With the graceful noble girl looking like that, how could she notice anyone else?

“We’re friends,” Enea said flippantly, not even looking in Rene’s direction.

“We are not friends,” Euthalia huffed. “We’re business partners at best.”

He set a hand on his chest, adopting a fakely sad expression. “Does our childhood mean nothing to you?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Lyssa couldn’t help it.

She laughed.

Prince Rene looked completely out of sorts and Euthalia and Enea were practically butting heads, but were more animated than she had ever seen from both of them. It was fascinating and fun and, honestly, she enjoyed seeing these new sides to them. The aloof magician and the strict noblewoman—or maybe they just weren’t comfortable with anyone else.

“You two really seem close!” Lyssa said, smiling as Euthalia recoiled in horror.

“See? Miss Roth understands,” Enea said and smirked victoriously.

“Miss Roth, please, I beg of you—never say anything so horrible again,” Euthalia begged.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Prince Rene whispered.

“Anyway, Lady Euthalia, didn’t you have something you wanted to talk to me about?” Lyssa asked.

Euthalia snapped her fingers. “Right! Light Magic! You see, my mother’s family specialized in Dark Magic, which is primarily an offensive type of magic. I’ve spent the last eighteen years studying it but because of the way that it is, I could never hope to study Light Magic nearly as extensively. I wanted to interrogate you on your experience, if that’s alright. Both of us have such rare attributes and Enea is useless—and honestly, what kind of magician—”

“I _told_ you, Earth Attributes are completely different from Spiritual Attributes and no magician can ever hope to understand _those_ —” Enea started, but went ignored.

“—and so,” Euthalia continued loudly, “it would be great if we could compare magics! What do you say, Miss Roth?”

“Now hold on a second!” Prince Rene shouted abruptly. His chair toppled as he stood, hands slammed down on the table. He glared at Euthalia and Lyssa frowned. “Euthalia, you can’t just barge in on a private lunch meeting and bother Lyssa in this way! After everything you’ve done to her—”

Rene was Lyssa’s friend, but sometimes he jumped to conclusions far too quickly. “Your Highness, sit _down_ ,” she snapped. Shocked, his mouth clicked shut. “When has the Lady Euthalia ever done anything to me? I thought you said once that rumors were beneath you, and I don’t appreciate you talking over me.” She huffed and turned to Euthalia. “Lady Euthalia, I would love to talk with you more about my magic. Light Magic is a status type of magic, but I like to use it to enhance myself when I’m fighting. Perhaps one day we could even spar?”

Euthalia clapped excitedly. “Please, call me Euthalia, Miss Roth. That sounds wonderful! Are you a close range fighter? I prefer combining magic with weaponry myself.”

“Only if you call me Lyssa. I didn’t know noblewomen also received physical training?” Lyssa asked. In the Academy, girls and boys were separated during physical education periods, where the girls primarily stuck to training their magic. She would have loved an opportunity to receive formal lessons in other types of fighting.

“Oh, no, I practically had to beg my father to let me start using a sword,” Euthalia sighed, holding her hand to her cheek. “He threw a fit when I so much as began doing push-ups, it was so odd, but my twin brother has no interest in fighting and my younger brother had only just been born at the time, so I wore him down.”

“ _Amazing_ ,” Lyssa breathed. “Yes, I am a close range fighter, but I’d love to go head-to-head with you.”

“I can’t believe there are two of you now,” Enea deadpanned. Euthalia whirled around on him, already spitting fire, and Lyssa laughed.

“Why haven’t we eaten with these two before?” she asked, turning to the prince who had set his chair back up and sat down. Usually the others joined them at lunch, but even Edmund who called Euthalia a ‘stuffy brat’ hadn’t seemed to have much problem with her.

“I don’t trust Euthalia,” Rene huffed. Lyssa stared at him, then turned away to face Euthalia again. She carefully didn’t acknowledge his sputtering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick reminder that this world will be unraveled in the next few chapter, so you'll definitely meet the other capture targets soon. Stay tuned! And happy Pride Month everyone! Times are tough right now, but still I hope you can be proud, and remember to stay safe.


	3. The One Where The Villainess's Brother Gets Punched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a couple more chapters finished, but after that, regular updates will stop. I have no idea where I'll go after I'm done with the next few chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

According to Prince Rene, Vincent’s sister had recently begun talking to Lyssa, and he was certain that would be trouble later on. Euthalia was a force of nature who didn’t care who she had to hurt for the sake of her curiosity. Lyssa didn’t deserve to get caught up in her insanity. She was sweet and gentle—not at all like his impulsive and cruel sister.

“You know, you always say these things, but I’ve never actually seen any of her supposed cruelty,” Aleksey Volkov said, head tilted curiously. Vincent huffed. Volkov was an idiot at best whose only skills were in training; unsurprising, as his father was the captain of the royal knights. He took after him in every way, from his cropped brown hair and large build to his boisterous and dimwitted personality. He may have been kind, but it was the type of kindness that led to impaired judgment.

“You, yourself, have been on the receiving end of her _experiments_ ,” Vincent reminded him. “Remember when she burned your whole forearm?”

“We… were thirteen,” Volkov said slowly, eyebrows furrowed. “It was an accident. She was crying while she healed me.”

“Euthalia is dangerous.”

His sister took after their mother in all the worst ways. While Vincent was learning etiquette, Euthalia was stealing from their weapons storage. While he was brushing up on his Sharven history, she was debating magical theory with that magician. While he was building connections with the upper class, she was destroying entire wings of the mansion. They were complete opposites and unlike him, her actions got people hurt.

“You told me you know where Euthalia is,” Vincent said, turning to Volkov. “So show me.”

Volkov sighed. “ _Siblings,_ ” he muttered. “She’s terrorizing some of my chosen minions right now in the field.”

“Don’t call them your minions.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Volkov waved a hand and started heading out towards the training field. Classes were out for the day, so it was free to use for those who wanted to train. Vincent had never gone out to the field outside of mandatory class time before; he had no interests in such a taxing activity.

Sure enough, his sister was there, interrupting training to bother one of the boys on the field. She was out of her uniform and wearing training clothes, a staff slung across her back. Vincent wrinkled his nose.

“Euthalia!” he called as he crossed the field to get to her. “Leave them alone!”

Euthalia turned, letting go of the boy’s wrist to wrinkle her nose at him. “Hello Brother,” she said flatly, and then she smiled serenely at Volkov. “And you too, Sir Aleksey. I’m surprised to see you two together.”

Volkov dipped his head cordially. “Lady Euthalia. Your brother wanted to know where you were. I am so sorry.” Vincent glared at him but went ignored as Euthalia laughed.

“Well, Brother,” she said, turning to him, “I’m here. What did you need from me?”

Vincent switched his glare onto her and scowled. They were twins, with the same sharp cheekbones and upturned nose, though hers was crooked from repeated breakage when they were younger. Everything else about them was opposite, even their skin colors. If he could help it, he would have no interaction with her whatsoever.

“What are your intentions with Lyssa?” he asked, crossing his arms. “His Highness has informed me that you two have begun talking and considering the rumors—”

Euthalia held up a hand. “Yes, the _rumors_. The rumors that I have been bullying and harassing Miss Roth since our first year, correct? Actually, last week was the first time the two of us have ever interacted. My only intentions with Miss Roth is to ask her about Light Magic, of which she has been more than happy to oblige.”

“Every time you try to _ask_ someone about their magic, you end up hurting them,” Vincent reminded her. “I thought you were starting to change, so why are you doing this again?” In the corner of his eye, he saw Volkov shake his head and start ushering the other students away.

“I am a noblewoman in public society. As you’ve told me time and time again, it’s not _proper_ for me to spend so much time researching magic when I should be studying politics and embroidery.” Euthalia rolled her eyes. “However, Miss Roth is different. She’s not a noblewoman and I’ve seen her use her magic in action. True, in this school she may be forced to become a noble, but she doesn’t have nearly the same reservations as most of the student body. And more importantly—” She leaned forward and jabbed a finger into his chest—”she’s okay with helping me. So it’s really none of your business now, is it, _Brother_?”

Vincent grabbed her wrist and jerked it away. Euthalia stared up at him unflinchingly, unapologetically. “Mind your tone, _Sister._ ”

“Prince Rene may not care for me but I’m still his fiancée. You are only his advisor and moreover my brother, however much you wish that weren’t the case. If you do anything to me, your reputation will be soured. There are witnesses.” She nodded to the students around them. Most of them had resumed their training, but Volkov was watching with a careful eye. That boy had too much influence, for all that he was a mere Captain’s son, and he inexplicably _liked_ Euthalia.

Vincent clicked his tongue and let her go. She smiled triumphantly, rubbing her wrist for a moment before letting her arm drop to her side.

“Stay away from Lyssa,” he ordered uselessly.

“That’s not your call,” she said. “And by the way, you’re a bit late for that. Miss Roth is—”

“Euthalia!” came a voice that Vincent instantly recognized as Lyssa’s. He turned hastily in the direction it came from.

Lyssa was running in their direction, a wide smile on her face. Like Euthalia, she wore the standard training uniform and her long silver hair was tied in a high ponytail. Vincent felt his face growing hot. He had never seen her in anything other than a dress, but she looked just as beautiful.

“Oh, Vincent.” Lyssa slid to a stop in front of him, standing beside Euthalia. “I've never seen you out here outside of school hours. What's up?" She smiled curiously, completely oblivious to the horrific picture she made standing next to Euthalia.

"You are… spending time with my sister?" he choked out.

Lyssa blinked, confused. "Yes. Euthalia and I are going to spar. I'm sorry, I mean Lady Euthalia."

"Call me Euthalia. I gave you permission, remember?" Euthalia said, giving her a blinding smile. To Vincent’s horror, Lyssa _blushed_. And she wasn’t the type of girl who blushed easily.

“Lyssa, no, you’ll get hurt,” Vincent tried, holding out an arm to force Euthalia to step back. He could feel her frown behind him, but he only had eyes on Lyssa.

Her blush faded as she glared at him and set her hands on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not a fighter,” Vincent explained carefully. He recognized that look on her face; when she looked like that, she got vindictive. It wasn’t very pleasant to have that expression turned on him. “Euthalia is volatile and has been training for years. I’m simply worried.”

“I am _very_ much capable of holding my own in a fight, I’ll have you know,” Lyssa hissed, narrowing pretty blue eyes up at him. “I’m more than happy to go against Euthalia, no matter how _volatile_ she apparently is. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“And I can confirm that Lyssa’s pretty great at what she does,” Volkov interrupted, popping into Vincent’s line of sight right behind Lyssa’s shoulder. He lifted a hand and wagged his fingers in greeting. Lyssa glanced up at him, a bit of a smile on her face. “She comes down here sometimes to train and I’ve personally helped her out a few times. She’s really good. I think she can handle Lady Euthalia and no matter the outcome, Lyssa and your sister are pretty good at healing spells. Have more trust in them, would you?”

“Thank you, Sir Aleksey,” Euthalia said sincerely. “Although you may dislike me, your honesty always wins out, I see.”

Volkov furrowed his eyebrows. “Disli—?”

“I suppose Lyssa’s Light Magic _is_ a status magic,” Vincent mused. “But isn’t that just healing? Lyssa, you don’t even have any weapons on you; how are you planning to fight? Especially against my sister’s Dark Magic. That’s not so easily controlled, and I’m not sure she even knows how to.” He looked at her, in time to see shock cross her face, then _rage_. “Lyssa?”

“Oh shit,” Euthalia said, realization in her voice.

The next moment, Vincent felt a fist in his stomach and he gagged, doubling over and then collapsing to the ground. He held his stomach, struggling to catch his breath as all the air had been knocked out of him. A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Lyssa’s furious gaze on him.

“I’m so sorry Lyssa,” Euthalia said over him, shuffling nearer but paying no mind to him. He watched her take Lyssa’s hands in hers, and the anger sapped away from her expression. “My dear brother has some terrible views. Might be my fault, to be honest; our childhood was a bit of a disaster. He only knows the bare minimum about Spiritual Affinities, too.”

“That’s not your fault, Euthalia,” Lyssa said soothingly. “You’re wonderful.” Euthalia smiled and she smiled back. Vincent would have glared if he weren’t still in pain.

A hand grabbed his arm and forced him to his feet. “Get up,” said Volkov, voice hard. “I’ll take you to the nurse. I doubt either of these lovely women will want to heal you.”

“He’s lucky I didn’t break his ribs,” Lyssa sniffed.

“Thank you, Sir Aleksey,” Euthalia said. “I promise I’ll make an effort not to destroy your field.”

“It’s not really _mine_ , but thank you.” Volkov laughed.

“I don’t need your help,” Vincent spat out.

“Tough. Let’s go.” Volkov was, unfortunately, much stronger than him and Vincent still hadn’t recovered from the blow. “By the way, Lady Euthalia?”

“Yes?” Euthalia let go of Lyssa’s hands to face them.

“You know I’ve never disliked you, right? Or hated you, for that matter.” Volkov looked at Euthalia carefully, and Vincent glanced between them, seeing shock cross Euthalia’s face. “As a matter of fact… Enea doesn’t hate you either. You’re still his best friend.”

The shock smoothed out to an empty smile. “I’m sorry?”

“Enea mentioned you still think he hates you,” Volkov explained. “Talk to him? Not as many people hate you as you think. You’re pretty cool.”

“Sure.” It was a lie if Vincent ever saw one, not that she was making much of an effort to hide it. She was far too good at lying, and it had given him a lot of grief growing up. “Take care of my brother, will you? Or don’t.”

Volkov grinned and gave her a mock salute. “Will do. Have fun sparring.” His grip on Vincent’s arm was going to leave bruises. The other boy had never liked him.

“Let _go_ of me,” Vincent muttered as he was practically dragged into the school. “I can walk. I’m not in that much pain.” He was in that much pain. If he walked on his own, he would probably be hugging the walls, but he wasn’t about to let a brute like Volkov know about that.

“Your sister told me to look after you,” Volkov said pleasantly. “I’m just doing what she told me to. She is my future boss, after all. Co-boss. She’d be a great boss.”

“She would run this kingdom into the ground.”

“Eh, minor details.” Volkov waved a hand.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. Talk like that… “If anyone looked too deeply into the implication of that, you could be accused of treason. Your own friend is the Crown Prince.”

“Yeah, but I’m Prince Theo’s favorite and Prince Rene has a brother complex. I’m not serious, so get that stick out of your ass.” Vincent gaped at the vulgarity, but he didn’t seem to notice. Or care. “Anyway, if you’re going to be Prince Rene’s advisor, you should be able to know when you’re in over your head. Lady Euthalia and Miss Lyssa? Totally out of your league. All that progress you made with Lyssa, too…” He shook his head, clicking his tongue. “You really fucked up.”

Vincent wanted to snap at him, but the pain in his stomach was a stark reminder that, yes, he really had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because there's always that one openly misogynistic character in these stories. No, I won't be actively trying to bash my own characters (though I will admit I did create this guy for face slapping purposes) so there _is_ is a bit of a backstory and character development for most of the characters that make you angry. But of course [dubious motive, still misogyny] (it's not a cool motive it's literally just *spoilers*)
> 
> You may or may not have noticed that I took the "feel-good" out of the summary. The reason for that will be revealed next chapter ^^; I may or may not have come up with a minor plot? But this is still 98% slice of life so don't expect the plot to show up in any coherent or reasonable fashion.


	4. The One Where A Five-Year Misunderstanding Is Cleared Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know this chapter was supposed to be funnier? Like a lot funnier. It was supposed to just be both of them being flailing teenagers who couldn't properly communicate in the most hilarious way possible for five years, except I was in a Mood when I wrote this and it became.... well. You'll see.

Enea entered the school lab and paused as he found someone already there. Sitting on top of one of the tables in tight-fitting clothes, a lab coat, and a pair of glasses was Euthalia, flipping through a few papers Enea was certain he had hidden. It didn’t alarm him as much as it probably should have, all things considered, but even five years later he knew Euthalia wouldn’t do anything with the information in her hand. If anything, she would argue with him about it and they would end up coming up with a whole new theory by the next day.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, snatching the papers out of her hands. She scowled up at him. “Nice glasses.” He hadn’t seen her wear them since they were twelve. After her engagement was decided, Vincent had apparently told her it was _improper_ for the future queen to have any visible weakness, so she stopped. Enea thought Vincent was thinking way too hard about that kind of thing; he thought the glasses were just fine.

“Thank you,” she said. He couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not. “I have a question.”

“Is it about this?” He looked at what she had been reading: his experimental theory on being able to manipulate weather patterns through different kinds of Earth Attributes.

“No, not about that. Although, I do think that you need to take into account the possible consequences of manipulating the weather. What would happen if you made it snow in the summer when it’s not supposed to? How long could you keep it up, and would you be expanding your own magical power for it, in which case, it would be highly likely that you would find yourself on the brink of magical exhaustion?”

“I was thinking of applying this to technology, the same way your communication orb does,” Enea explained. “Maybe a rune with similar attributes to the one you used on your communication device, as well. If you would let me study it, I could—”

Euthalia held up a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose with the other. “Stop, stop. That’s not what I came here for. We can debate this after.”

“Right.” Enea hopped onto the lab table beside her, smoothing out his black robes. He was the only student permitted to wear anything other than the standard-issue uniform, the reason being that his robes lined with small golden runes at the hems helped his Magician work. It also doubled as his lab coat. “So, what is it?”

“I was… informed by Sir Aleksey on a certain matter,” Euthalia said slowly. She adjusted her glasses nervously. “I wished to confirm it with you.”

“You talk to Aleksey?”

He knew that Euthalia didn’t have any problems with Aleksey, and Aleksey had always thought she was cool, but their positions made it difficult for them to talk casually. Prince Rene hadn’t helped matters any—he was protective of everyone he considered his, and Aleksey was one of his while Euthalia was not. She hadn’t tried to connect with any of the Prince’s people beyond formalities since they entered the Academy. Enea was surprised they were together long enough for Aleksey to start a conversation.

“He’s Lyssa’s friend,” Euthalia explained. “He was there when she and I went down to the field for our spar.”

“Was the spar useful?” Enea asked. He despised researching Spiritual Attributes—they made his head hurt—but they still intrigued him.

“Oh, definitely. Lyssa won, naturally, but it was very insightful,” Euthalia said. Typical. She had never enjoyed the actual act of fighting—only what it did for her research, which was why she was a weapons’ specialist. “But anyway, while I was there, Sir Aleksey informed me that he… didn’t dislike me. Has never disliked me, in fact.” Enea paused as he saw her expression go bewildered at her own words, eyes wide behind her glasses. “Then he said that, you don’t hate me? Admittedly, I’m unsure of why he chose to bring you up in particular, but I had to ask—”

“If I _hate_ you?” Enea couldn’t keep himself from gaping at her. He sort of remembered her saying something like that before, something about knowing that he hated her _but_ —and then she had changed the subject before he could address that. It had slipped his mind, but he was still just as shocked by the assumption as he had been then.

“Well… yes.” Euthalia was avoiding his gaze, looking down at her lap.

“Where did you get the idea that I have _ever_ hated you?”

Euthalia had been his first, best, and only friend for his early years. Her mother was close friends with his mentor, his adopted father, which meant that they were childhood playmates, and their shared interest in magic had kept them close. He had always been endlessly frustrated by her apparent lack of self-control and her propensity for dragging others—namely, him—into it, but she was fun to be around.

Even when they were forced to stop meeting and Euthalia began to act more like a noble and less like herself, he had never hated her. Never even disliked her, despite the rumors that ran rampant around the school, and the way she would turn away from him whenever they caught each other’s eye. She was weird and annoying and dangerous, but they had been friends, once.

“We haven’t talked in five years, Enea,” Euthalia said. “I—the only reason I spoke to you in the first place was because I need your assistance for when Prince Rene gets rid of me. And you know the rumors about me—I’m frigid, ice-cold, a bully. I brush everyone off and it’s impossible to get to know me. I hurt people all the time with how difficult Dark Magic is. I laugh when people make mistakes. I’m… I am not a good person.”

“Neither am I.” Enea raised an eyebrow. “I’ve done all of those things, too. Do you hate me?”

“Never.” She finally deigned to look at him, only to appear offended by the very idea. Secretly, he felt pleased by the reaction.

“Well, there you go. And anyway, it’s not like you could do anything to make me hate you when we never spoke until you came to me.”

Euthalia sighed. “Right, that’s another thing. We never spoke. You never talked to me for five years.”

“You never talked to me either,” he reminded her.

“I had—” She stopped. Bit her lip. The fact that she had almost revealed something she didn’t want to was proof enough that she was upset, so he tried not to hold his own hurt against her. “There were… things. Going on by the time we came here. It wasn’t that easy,” she said instead. “But you stopped talking to me even before we came to school. Father caught me before I could try sending even a letter, and made sure the servants kept me away too. Why didn’t you come see me?”

“How would I have?” Euthalia’s father had never liked him for enabling her, so he and everyone even remotely familiar with him knew to keep him away. It wasn’t right for him to be seen alone with Duke Durand’s only daughter when she had just gotten engaged, and had they been spotted alone, all kinds of rumors would have popped up. Even to two thirteen-year-old children, the nobility would have been cruel.

“You could have talked to me after we got here,” she said. “Vincent wouldn’t have cared, and it isn’t like our social positions would make it weird.”

“You could have talked to me too,” he pointed out, carefully watching the way her fingers clenched in her lap.

“I couldn’t do that,” she snapped, and there was something scary in her eyes. It wasn’t scary like the expression she wore when she found something new she wanted to test. It was like she wasn’t really looking at him. “I couldn’t just talk to you. I can’t—there was no way. By then, I had… You already hated—you would have—I—”

Something was wrong.

Euthalia broke off and looked away, taking off her glasses. She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. Her shoulders were shaking and it looked like she was breathing a bit too quickly, or maybe she was just on the verge of sobbing.

“Euthalia?” Enea said, trying not to let panic seep into his voice. His hands hovered, wanting to touch her but not knowing if she would let him. “Euthalia, what’s wrong?”

“I _can’t_ ,” she choked out. She brought her legs to her chest and buried her head in between her knees.

Enea didn’t say anything. He didn’t know if there was anything he _could_ say. Instead, he gently set his hand on her shoulder. When she didn’t flinch, he wrapped his arm around her fully and hugged her close. She still didn’t react.

It was completely inappropriate. Anyone would think that this meant they were having some sort of sordid affair. There were already rumors about Prince Rene and Lyssa, and if there were any about Euthalia and Enea, it would be a disaster. An engaged young lady shouldn’t even be alone with a man who wasn’t her fiancé or family.

Enea didn’t really care. Euthalia wasn’t someone who cried easy, and there was something she was keeping secret. Something that scared her enough to make her breakdown like this, and somehow made her think that Enea hated her.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, not lifting her head. “You’re right. I could have talked to you before and I didn’t.” Her shoulders were still shaking, but her breathing was starting to get under control.

“I’m sorry, too,” Enea said quietly. “What’s going on, ‘Lia?”

_Lia_. The old nickname made her tense under his arm.

“Nothing,” she lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is only marginally better. Maybe. ~~not really~~


	5. The One Where The Villainess Remembers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this one's less sad and more melancholy. Also, not a whole lot of dialogue, so sorry about that ^^; This is mostly a background chapter, so it's a lot of exposition. Totally don't blame you if you get lost trying to keep track of the information onslaught.
> 
> At any rate, enjoy!

three years earlier

Euthalia Durand felt a sudden massive migraine during the opening ceremony of Saint Katherine’s Academy for Gifted Youth, and fainted not a moment later. When she woke up in the school infirmary—completely alone, with not even a nurse waiting for her—it was with the knowledge that she had lived once before.

It wasn’t a sudden, shocking revelation. It was a confirmation of something she already knew, an understanding, an _Oh, that sounds right_. It was something she had already figured out, sort of, or at least it felt like the final puzzle piece slotting into place even though she already knew what the full picture was. Reincarnation wasn’t a new concept, even if it hadn’t been her go-to. There was no proof of its existence, but numerous studies thought it to be a side effect of Spiritual Attributes.

Her name was Euthalia Durand, the only daughter to Duke Durand. She was fourteen-going-on-fifteen years old. Her fiancé was the Crown Prince, Rene vi Sharven. And in four years, her engagement would be annulled and she would be tossed aside in shame.

“Geez,” Euthalia muttered, scrubbing a hand through her hair. “What is this cliche isekai plot?”

Because of course Euthalia Durand was the villainess, the constant tormentor of the heroine, Lyssa Roth, in the popular otome game _Academy’s First Light_.

In her past life, that was.

It was a surprisingly fun game, or maybe it was just that Euthalia had been physically incapable of leaving well enough alone. After her best friend had introduced it to her, they spent months going through every single route.

Euthalia groaned and buried her head in her hands. This was the worst. She had read a lot of webnovels with this exact plot, and she didn’t really like the possibility of a reverse harem or using the knowledge of her past life to get an edge up. She didn’t care for romance and even less for men, and she had never had the head for politics.

Well, at least she knew where her fascination with magic came from, and why her brother and her fiancé both hated her.

It sucked that Aleksey and Enea would hate her too. They probably already did—in the game, they hadn’t had the best impressions of her even before they went to the Academy, and in this life, she hadn’t even tried to get close to them after her engagement.

Euthalia lied back down and curled up on her side, squeezing her eyes shut. She died trying to push her best friend out of the way of a car. Her best friend in this life wanted nothing to do with her. Friends would be difficult because if they weren’t blatantly racist, they would want her position. Eventually, she would become a commoner, and there would be very few members of the nobility willing to maintain friendly relations with a disgraced former noble.

She was alone here. She had already known that, but it was even more obvious now that she remembered.

The nurse came in thirty minutes later. According to her diagnosis, the problem was with a sudden upsurge of magic in her body. They couldn’t pin down the cause, so they wanted her to come in again in a week to see how she was doing, but otherwise, she was free to head home. The researcher in Euthalia couldn’t help taking note of the connection between her magic and her memories—not that she would tell anyone about this.

 _What a shame,_ she sighed internally as she headed to her dorm. Proof of reincarnation, and she wouldn’t be able to share it. Or rather, it would be too risky to reveal it, if she were to be able to find reliable evidence of her past life.

This school was set up so as to allow the students some degree of independence from their houses. As a result, all students lived in the dorms. Most were in double rooms, but Euthalia had requested a single, having been wary of being too close to nobles who barely tolerated her, and also so that she would be able to experiment in peace. Now she added another reason to be grateful for a single room: there was no one to snoop around her things when she wrote down everything she could remember about the old otome game.

As Euthalia walked through the hallways, deep in thought, a part of her mind was still present. She could hear the whispers following her about how her own fiancé wasn’t escorting her. Some of the truly brazen ones laughed about how it must have something to do with her skin, and she didn’t hesitate to send a glare their way. It shut the idiots up. Satisfied, she continued on her merry way.

By all rights, Prince Rene or even her brother Vincent should have gone to see her out of the nurse’s office, but she hadn’t expected them to.

“Um, excuse me. Can you help me?”

Euthalia blinked, coming fully back into the present to look up at the girl stopped in front of her.

Although she had only ever been an animated figure in her past life, it would have been impossible not to recognize the heroine, Lyssa Roth. Gorgeous silver hair falling down her back, delicate features, and a clearly cheap, hand-me-down version of the school uniform. Even still, she was a beauty, unparalleled by any other girl in the school.

“Yes? What is it?” Euthalia said shortly. Her luck made her want to cry. Honestly, of all the people Lyssa Roth had to stop, it had to be her.

“Sorry to bother you, but could you give me directions to the cafeteria?”

Euthalia sighed and pointed. “Down the hall, take the left, then take the next left after that and keep walking until you find the large double doors labelled ‘cafeteria.’”

“Thank you very much!” Lyssa smiled and of course she had perfect white teeth. With a quick curtsy, she hurried down the hall. Euthalia watched her go, thinking that she was lucky it _had_ been her who she had stopped. Most others would have shunned her for daring to talk to nobility like they were equals.

With a shake of her head, she continued on her way.

Her first order of business upon entering her dorm was to collapse on the bed. She needed a minute to breathe. She understood what was going on now, and that meant she had work to do.

Just.

In a moment.

When she could bother sitting up again, she put on her glasses, took out a notebook and began writing.

The heroine, Lyssa Roth, was a commoner who was discovered to have the very rare Spiritual Attribute of Light Magic. It was the complete opposite of Euthalia’s own Dark Magic. She was one of very few commoners with the ability to wield magic; magic tended to be a noble’s talent. She would spend four years at the Academy and in her final year, she would fight a grand battle with a rogue Magician, end up in a coma for three days, and still make it on time for her graduation. At their graduation, whichever capture target’s affection was the highest would bring her flowers and confess during the ceremony, and she would live happily ever after.

The Euthalia Durand of the game was naturally the villainess who would bully and harass Lyssa without remorse for being both a commoner and too close to her fiancé. In every route, Euthalia’s actions would cause her to lose her engagement—which, admittedly, to the Euthalia of now, wasn’t that bad a deal, though she had no intention of actually being a bully. Whatever else happened to her, though, depended on which route.

The main capture target was Euthalia’s fiancé, the Crown Prince of Sharven himself, Rene. He would break their engagement and cast her out as a commoner. She would never be able to work with nobility again. That was most likely what would happen.

There was also Theo vi Sharven, Rene’s younger brother; Aleksey Volkov, the son of the Captain of the Royal Knights; Kane Hauer, the playboy son of a marquis; Vincent, Euthalia’s twin brother; and Enea Corvi, the future Court Magician—who also happened to be Euthalia’s former best friend in this life.

Euthalia paused in her writing, staring down at Enea’s name. She didn’t know if they were best friends in the game—her past didn’t match up to what little the game told her about the original’s past. That girl had been largely isolated by her father following her mother’s death and she was more than happy to be spoiled in her isolation, leading to her selfish nature. When she finally left, she discovered that the life she thought she deserved didn’t line up with reality, and it only got worse.

Euthalia’s pencil broke in her hand. She tossed it and searched for a new one.

She had ranted about it to her friend. It was difficult not to let that sour her experience entirely, although it certainly did. The creators had used her skin color to boost Lyssa’s heroic qualities as she ‘even’ stood up for the _poor, half-blood villainess_. In Enea’s route, the original had even died.

Euthalia stood abruptly from her chair and paced the length of her room, biting her thumbnail. Unease and terror welled up in her stomach. She thought she might throw up.

She knew better than anyone that Enea was dangerous. She had never feared him when they were children, but she had seen the look in his eyes, both in the game and in their past. He killed the original after the graduation ceremony, though it was only in his Bad End that Lyssa found out. For bullying his love, she had to die. In his Good End, Lyssa simply thought she had disappeared.

Euthalia wrapped her arms around herself. They had been friends in this life, but there was a 50/50 chance he would still hate her regardless of whether or not she’s done anything. She hadn’t done anything to Rene or Vincent, after all. And she had no way to check, because she didn’t want to risk anything. She didn’t want to risk her own—second—death at the hands of the person she used to be closest to.

Luckily, the other routes weren’t as terrible. It was only because Enea had been the hidden capture target that there was a death route.

In Theo’s route, the consequences would be roughly the same as in Rene’s, with a little bit more financial hardship. In Vincent’s route, she would be forced into isolation again, separate from their father’s main house with only the staff for company. In Aleksey’s, she would be sent to live in a rural farming town across the country. In Kane’s, there would be terrible rumors about her being loose and disloyal, leaving her incapable of ever getting married or being welcomed by high society. Overall, not great, but at least she wasn’t dead and she would be able to handle them.

Euthalia sank to the ground, covering her face with her hands. If things played out as they would in the game, then she was alone. Completely and totally alone.

She missed her best friend.

(She didn’t know which one she was thinking about.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Euthalia is very small and very tired


	6. The One Where A 12-Year-Old Holds The Braincell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a lighter chapter for everyone! I don't think I have any more super serious chapters coming up, so thank god.
> 
> Enjoy!

Solon hopped out of the carriage, not bothering to wait for his driver to help him out, and looked up at his sister’s school. “You can leave now,” he told the driver as he flapped a hand carelessly in his direction.

“But, Young Master—” the driver stammered, his eyes darting between him and the school.

Solon spun to face him and crossed his arms. “I said _leave_. And remember not to tell my father I’m here, or else.” He didn’t really know what he would do if the driver told his father anything—and most likely, he wouldn’t be able to get away with it if he tried—but his tone was dark enough to make the man pale and send him on his way. He hummed with satisfaction and turned back to the extravagant building before him.

He hadn’t been here since the first time he came to send his siblings off in their enrollment three years ago. He had only been nine years old at the time, so he hadn’t paid much attention to where they were going. Clearly, that was a mistake. He frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. He didn’t really want to have to ask anyone for assistance, and considering his older brother’s irritated mutterings every time he came home, he probably didn’t want to interact with most of the student body anyway.

Any plans he had to surprise his sister went out the window as he resigned himself to having to call her. He took a moment to remember what she had told him, then summoned the Totally Not A Cell Phone Communication Orb Name Pending—as her notes called it—that she had sent him the week before. (He didn’t know what a “cell phone” was, but Euthalia really shouldn’t have left her notes in her room under such an easy lock.)

“Hello Sister!” he chirped once she answered. He grinned as he took note of her appearance through the magical glass. His sister was so cool.

“ _Hello Solon,_ ” she said. “ _I see you got my gift._ ”

“Yup!” Solon said. “It’s really cool!”

“ _Thank you. Now, what is it that you’re calling me for? I know you don’t just want to catch up._ ”

“You don’t know that,” he said, just to be difficult.

“ _I absolutely do. What do you want, Solon?_ ”

His grin turned sheepish. “Can you come pick me up? I’m in front of your school right now, by the front gates.”

“ _You’re_ what _?_ ” she sputtered. “ _What in the five continents are you doing at my school? Does Father know you’re here?_ ”

“Nope! And I don’t know where to go to find you, so can you come get me, please?” He lifted the orb so she could get a full look at his well-practiced pleading face. It always worked like a charm—on their father and brother, at least. It was a 50/50 chance with her.

She let out a long sigh. “ _I swear, you take so much after Mother…_ ” she muttered, as though Father and the staff at home hadn’t said the exact same thing about her. “ _I’m walking with my friend and we were just about to have lunch, so you can come with us. Stay_ right where you are _, okay? Don’t move._ ”

“Yes Sister! See you soon!”

She shut off the call, and Solon hummed as he dismissed the orb. He was a little more excited now that he knew she had a _friend_. She had never talked about friends before, and always seemed upset whenever anyone brought it up, so he never asked. He couldn’t wait to see what this friend was like. He hoped they were kind to her.

He was startled by her appearance when she arrived ten minutes later. He had known that she had begun conducting herself differently at school than she did at home, but it was one thing to know it and another thing to see it. Dresses got in the way when she was locking herself in Mother’s old labs and she practically always wore her glasses around the house. He rarely even saw her hair down. He had grown up seeing her argue with Father and the staff about proper etiquette in the house, and to see her using that proper etiquette was just _odd_.

At her side was a girl a noticeable few inches taller than her. She didn’t quite have noble cheekbones and her uniform was clearly a bit older, but she was incredibly pretty. Her hair was long and silver, which Solon had never seen on a young girl before, and she looked at his sister with worry and curiosity.

“Solon Durand,” Euthalia said, fixing him with a stern look as she came to a stop in front of him, “what do you think you’re doing here? Without an escort even!”

“You would do the same thing,” he retorted. “I wouldn’t have to be here if you would send more letters!”

“I send letters,” she protested. “Hasn’t Father been giving them to you?”

Solon scrunched up his face. “Father? Who cares about Father? You barely send me any personal letters! I didn’t even know you had a friend until now!” He pointed at the girl beside her, who was looking less worried and more amused.

“Hello,” the girl said, smiling sweetly down at him. “My name is Lyssa Roth. Who would you be?” Solon stared at her for a long few moments.

“Ah, Lyssa,” Euthalia said, “it’s proper courtesy to wait for the person of higher standing to introduce themselves first.” A commoner then, Solon figured, though he was unsurprised.

“Well!” he said. “You didn’t know, so I’ll let it slide. My name is Solon Durand, youngest child and second son to the Duke Durand. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lyssa.” He bowed, placing a hand over his heart as he did so. Clumsily, she curtseyed back, and it was only because Euthalia had narrowed her eyes at him that he didn’t laugh. There was clearly a lot of work to be done with this girl.

“So, Solon, you really only came here to yell at me to be more personal in my letters?” Euthalia asked.

“And I wanted to visit,” he answered. “Vincent comes back all the time, but you never come with him. We’re not that far away!”

“Call him ‘Brother’, Solon,” Euthalia sighed. “You’re supposed to call him ‘Brother.’”

“No.”

“You little brat.”

Solon grinned and reached forward to take her hand. “You said lunch, right? Where are we having lunch?”

Euthalia shook her head, fingers pressed to her forehead. She didn’t protest his hand in her other hand. “You…” She sighed. “We’re eating in the garden today. Lucky you; you won’t have to sit with the other students in the cafeteria.”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

Euthalia led him inside with Miss Roth walking on her other side.

“So you really like your sister, Lord Solon?” Miss Roth asked. “And may I say, you two look so alike.”

“Call me Solon. I’m only twelve,” Solon said. He couldn’t help preening a little at being compared to his sister. His skin wasn’t as dark as hers, but they shared the same eyes. And naturally, his sister was beautiful, so of course he was beautiful as well. “Euthalia’s the best! Even if I’d like her to stop accidentally destroying my room.”

“Emphasis on _accident_ , you brat,” Euthalia hissed as Miss Roth laughed. “And I fixed it for you, didn’t I?”

“Ah, that sounds like Euthalia. There was a _mysterious_ accident in one of the classrooms the other day, which happened to occur while Euthalia was there. The teacher’s hair got set on fire and now he’s bald,” Miss Roth said. Solon decided he liked this girl.

“He deserved it,” Euthalia muttered.

“One time Sister disappeared all of Father’s clothes except for his pajamas,” Solon said. “Turns out she just turned them invisible.”

“Oh my. Actually, can you confirm something for me? I heard this story—”

Euthalia buried her head in her hands as Solon exchanged stories with Miss Roth, who eventually told him to call her Lyssa. They were still telling stories as they briefly stopped by the cafeteria to get food, then headed out into the garden to avoid the majority of the student body. The storytelling was put to a stop when Solon saw which table they were heading and he beamed as he saw who was waiting.

“Brother Enea!” he exclaimed. “Sister, you’re talking to Enea again?”

“Oh that’s so cute,” Lyssa said. “You call him Brother but not Vincent?”

“Enea used to play with me all the time,” Solon told her. He had only been seven when Enea stopped coming around, but he had always been there before then. He remembered how Enea would make him little moving dolls from the earth and told stories with fire, only for the fire to get wildly out of control and everyone started panicking. He was a great brother figure.

Things weren’t as fun after he stopped coming around.

“Yes, well. Enea won’t leave me alone, so I had no choice,” Euthalia answered, cheeks a bit darker. “And Solon, don’t be rude. Aleksey, hello. Your Highness, I wasn’t aware you were joining us today.” She curtseyed to the other two boys. Lyssa didn’t bother and slid into an empty seat.

“Aleksey told me you were having lunch together today and it’s been a long time, so I wanted to drop in,” Prince Theo said, smiling widely. He looked a lot like his older brother, if a bit shorter and obviously younger. Solon wasn’t very familiar with him, even though he was his sister’s fiancé’s brother.

“Well. You’re welcome to stay, then,” Euthalia said.

Solon bowed cordially. “Greeting His Highness the Second Prince.”

“Hello again Solon,” Prince Theo said cheerily. “I haven’t seen you since you were tiny! What were you, eight years old? You’ve grown!” Solon carefully didn’t retort that he had only been eleven himself at the time, and in his opinion, Prince Theo certainly hadn’t grown a bit.

“Yes, I have,” he said and hopped into a seat. Euthalia sat down too, on one side of Enea, and Solon used that to bring the topic back. “Sister, when did you and Brother Enea start talking again?”

“Oh, she wanted to cut me a deal,” Enea began before Euthalia could open her mouth.

“What deal?” Solon asked. He didn’t miss the way Euthalia smiled emptily as she ran a hand through his hair.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s not important.” Enea stared at her, unblinking. She avoided his gaze, though Solon wasn’t sure anyone else noticed.

“Yes,” Enea said slowly. “It’s nothing to do with you. At any rate, after we made our deal, I decided to continue talking to her. Five years is too long, don’t you think?”

“Does that mean you’ll start visiting again? The mansion is so quiet since you stopped coming by.” Solon didn’t remember much, being really young when Enea and Euthalia were forbidden from being friends, but he remembered the first few years of his life were loud. After her engagement, all of that stopped. It was only within the last few years that Solon figured out that when Euthalia got stressed, she got quiet—and she had been quiet ever since she started going to the Academy.

"Well, maybe. If your sister will let me." Enea looked at Euthalia, who looked back at him silently. There was a moment of silent communication between them before Euthalia sighed.

"On the off-chance I visit home long enough that it would matter, then yes, I don't see why not," she droned. Solon could barely keep from gasping. She had never conceded to him whenever he asked about Enea. Quickly, she turned to her other side to say to Lyssa, "If you would like, I would be happy to have you at the Durand Mansion as well."

Lyssa's eyes widened. "You would let me?"

"Of course. You're a good friend."

"Then, yes! I would love to visit!"

"That's great!"

Solon watched the two girls beam and talk excitedly with a bit of curiosity. He had never seen Euthalia act like—well, like what some of the staff called a _normal girl_. There was something about Lyssa that was different, though he couldn't tell what. Whatever it was, it was something that made Euthalia look at her like she was the most fascinating person in the room. She didn't look at people like that. (Euthalia didn't tend to look at most people as _people_ , at all.)

And Lyssa, she looked at Euthalia like she was a particularly bright star. Like she was precious and thrilling, and she was perfectly fine with being apart from her so long as she could keep looking. No one ever looked at his sister that way. It was his personal opinion that more people should.

Solon slid out of his seat, unnoticed by the girls, and instead sat between Aleksey and Prince Theo.

"Hey kid," Prince Theo said, grinning down at him.

"Don't call me _kid_." Solon frowned.

Aleksey laughed. "Ah, you're practically a kid. I'm ancient, you know."

"You're weird," Solon said bluntly. That only made Aleksey laugh harder.

"So, why'd you leave your precious sister? Tired of her and Lyssa's flirting?" he asked. Solon furrowed his eyebrows.

"Flirting?" Prince Theo said, echoing Solon's confusion.

Aleksey waved a hand. "Never mind. Don't mind me." Prince Theo didn't look like he believed him, but didn't say anything more on the subject. Solon looked back at Euthalia and Lyssa thoughtfully. He glanced at Enea, too, who had inserted himself into the conversation and was getting chewed out for the interruption. Lyssa was laughing, looking at both of them in a horribly fond manner.

 _Flirting._ Solon had had his share of crushes on noble girls before, and Vincent had been stumbling over the same girl for the past few years, but Euthalia never seemed interested. She had always approached her engagement with a distant grace and brushed off all the noblemen who flirted with her.

He looked at Euthalia and Lyssa with new eyes. Some of the maids back home—the ones who were around long enough to know Enea but not long enough to know to hold their tongues—liked to gossip about Euthalia and Enea's _forbidden love_. He never had the guts to ask if they were right. He wondered if maybe they were wrong.

"You've opened my eyes, Sir Aleksey," Solon said solemnly. Aleksey blinked at him blankly.

"Uh. You're welcome?"

Solon nodded. "You're weird, but you're alright. Make friends with my sister, please."

"Oh, sure! No problem!" He grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Euthalia's cool. Or well, she seems cool based on Enea's stories. And Enea's a great judge of character!"

"What about me, Solon?" Prince Theo said, smiling down at him. Solon wrinkled his nose.

"You're kind of creepy." Prince Theo began to look offended, so Solon amended, "But you're nicer than your brother."

"Is that permission?"

"If Euthalia likes you," he decided.

Prince Theo chuckled. "I'll take it."

"Solon, what in the name of the spirits are you saying to royalty?" Euthalia demanded, narrowing her eyes at them. Solon smiled innocently.

This group was okay. As long as they treated his sister right, they wouldn’t have any problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get a bit of a deeper look at Euthalia from the point of view of someone who both knows her and likes her! Writing Solon is an absolute delight.  
> Euthalia is panromantic asexual actually but romance isn't really something on her mind and it never really has been. I'm honestly not sure if it'll ever be during the course of this fic. That's why I don't have OFC/OFC tagged. The OMC/OMC is the only couple I have that will absolutely happen. You'll figure out who they are soon enough ;D


	7. The One Where The Knight Instigates The Worst Possible Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much trouble thinking of a title for this one, but just know that this is the chapter I've been wanting to write this whole time. At the same time it makes me want to cry. Not in a bad way but in a "I can't believe my own characters are like this"
> 
> Enjoy!

Now, Kane Hauer didn’t hate Euthalia Durand. Rene was his friend, so he was sort of obligated to, but he hadn’t listened to Rene when they were kids and he was hardly about to start now, especially when Rene was clearly a bit of a moron. (A good prince, maybe, but so _awkward_ as a person.) He wasn’t afraid of her either, no matter the fact that she had threatened to lock him in a closet and make him a test subject for her Illusion Magic. It was simply that they were two very different people, and therefore they didn’t have any reason to interact.

He wasn’t avoiding her or anything.

Of course not.

A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Aleksey’s unimpressed stare gazing down at him. He made a face at his rival, who rolled his eyes.

“You’re such a coward,” Aleksey said. “Why do you need to use _my_ field as a hiding place?”

"This is the school's field, and I am not hiding," Kane sniffed. He should have known that hiding by the training field would result in being forced to interact with Aleksey, but he wasn't thinking beyond just _going_.

"Sure. This is just a strategic maneuver." Aleksey shook his head. "If you're going to hide in my field, at least be useful."

“And how would I do that, exactly?”

“Target practice.”

“ _Absolutely not_.”

Aleksey laughed. “I’m joking. Help me advise the other students.”

Kane eyed him warily. "How do I know you won't rat me out?"

"You don't." He smiled pleasantly and gestured to the other students. "But some of us are practicing our spells, and it would just be terrible if you got turned into target practice anyway. _Accidentally_ , of course." Kane couldn't believe people thought this guy was nothing but sunshine incarnate. Clearly they didn’t know him as well as he did.

" _Fine_ ," Kane grumbled. He stood, dusting off his trousers. "I'm not wearing the uniform for proper training, so you have to be the practical teacher. And don't you dare rat me out!"

"Not to worry! I'll keep you safe!" Aleksey grinned and slammed a hand against his back. The force knocked some of the breath out of Kane.

"Watch your strength you brute," he grunted and coughed.

"Wimp!" Aleksey retorted cheerfully.

"Just because _I'm_ not obsessed with training and fighting!" Kane huffed. If anything, he was actually one of the most skilled fighters in their class, right below Rene and Aleksey himself. Unfortunately, that meant nothing to Aleksey, who was leagues above pretty much everyone. "If you want to call anyone a wimp, go to Vincent. That guy could use some humbling. And muscle strength."

"True," Aleksey acquiesced. He folded his hands behind his head and grinned mischievously down at him. Kane hated that grin. "So, why were you hiding then?"

"I was not _hiding_. I was simply… enjoying the sun."

"You only 'enjoy the sun' when you're on a date. Let’s see… did you try to hit on Euthalia again?"

" _No_." He learned his lesson after the first five times.

"...Did you try to hit on Lyssa in Euthalia's view again?"

Kane didn't dignify that with a response, turning his head away haughtily. Aleksey let out a booming laugh and his cheeks grew warm. It wasn’t _his_ fault that Euthalia was unnecessarily intense—no other girls got this angry at him! And apparently she hadn’t figured out that he stopped being serious about it in their second year and that was just how he talked to Lyssa. But of course Aleksey, that asshole, only found his situation amusing.

As they stopped by the training students, Kane put being mad on pause to instead raise an eyebrow skeptically at what was happening in front of him. There were students running across the field, leaning forward with their arms spread out behind them. Aleksey started grinning wildly again.

"Aleksey," Kane said flatly, "what is this?"

"What is what?" Aleksey said innocently. Kane turned to him and crossed his arms.

He opened his mouth to ask again, but was interrupted by, "Yes, Aleksey. What exactly _is_ this?" Kane jumped, swearing under his breath as he instinctively leaped behind Aleksey. Euthalia tilted her head curiously. A cursory glance was the only acknowledgment he received from her before she turned her sharp stare onto Aleksey. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved about that.

"Hello Euthalia," Aleksey said, smiling easily like her sudden appearance wasn't alarming.

"Is this your doing?" Euthalia asked, gesturing to the other students. "And if it is, _why?_ "

He shrugged. "It's just a little training exercise. To help them move faster. Stuff like that, you know? I've been thinking about it for a while and I wanted to test it."

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Kane scoffed. “And I’ve heard a lot of dumb things. Mostly from you.”

“I like to consider it innovative, actually.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “It’s a scam. Isn’t that right, Lady Euthalia?” he tried, glancing at her hesitantly. Not that he was scared or anything. But instead of looking as bewildered as him, she was looking at the students with her eyebrows furrowed, almost consideringly. “Lady Euthalia?” There was no _way_ she thought this supposed 'exercise' had any merit. For all her quirks, she at least had common sense.

Euthalia blinked as she slowly turned back to the two of them. She opened her mouth—

And what came out were words Kane had never heard before. At least, he thought they were words. They sounded like words, but they weren’t in any language he could identify. Aleksey seemed to understand though, if the widening of his eyes were any indication. It was the first time Kane had ever seen him look so shocked. He started saying something back in the same language and Euthalia was already nodding before he finished speaking.

“Holy shit,” Aleksey said, in their language this time.

“Watch your language in front of a lady,” Kane snapped automatically.

“Holy _shit,_ ” he repeated. Euthalia’s eyes were as wide and shocked as his. “I can’t believe—I mean, I knew something was up, but I just thought that maybe because, like—”

“I didn’t even _suspect_ ,” Euthalia said, overlapping him. “You said some weird things sometimes, but not—”

“You were doing such a terrible job pretending to be a noblewoman I can’t believe I’m so goddamn—”

“And you were pretty much exactly the same until _this_ —”

“This is unreal.”

“You’re telling me.”

Kane watched them stare at each other, looking both disbelieving and hopeful. Aleksey was the first to react again, an ecstatic grin crossing his face as he bounded forward and grabbed Euthalia in a tight hug. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around once and Euthalia laughed, cheeks dark, until she was put back down. Kane felt sort of like he was intruding on an important moment. Something about it made his stomach crawl uncomfortably.

“Uh,” he interrupted. The two of them snapped their gazes in his direction like they had only just remembered his presence. He felt his finger twitch irritably. “Are you two okay?”

Euthalia coughed, taking a step away from Aleksey. Something in Kane’s chest eased a little. “Yes, my apologies. We simply came to a…”

“We figured something out,” Aleksey said, taking over for her. “Don’t worry too much about it.”

“Right… It was about this sham training exercise?” Kane said. He tried putting the pieces together, but it didn’t really seem to fit. He was never very good at puzzles.

“Sure. On that note.” Euthalia turned to Aleksey and punched him in the shoulder. Aleksey didn’t flinch, made of muscle that he was. “I cannot _believe_ you. You’re really making a bunch of people who don’t know any better do _that_?”

“They don’t know what it means so it’s fine!” Aleksey protested.

“ _I_ know what it is. _You_ know what it is. That is two too many people.”

“Did you seriously show up out of nowhere just to scold me for this?”

“I may as well have.” Euthalia tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I was simply walking the hallways, minding my own business, as you do—”

“Should I be worried?”

“—and what do I see but a bunch of students running in a way I never thought I would witness. And I thought to myself, _Euthalia, that doesn’t make sense_ , so I went down to figure out what was going on. Lo and behold, who do I find but _you_ , of all people? I wouldn’t have been as surprised if I knew it was you, to be honest, but this is still unforgivable.”

“I had the chance and I took it. You knew I would.”

“ _Unfortunately._ ”

Kane looked back at the other students, but most of them had stopped and were taking breaks. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with them, other than how stupid the whole thing looked, but Euthalia looked so exasperated by it. He never knew she could look that way. He didn’t know Aleksey could look so happy either. In fact, he hadn’t known there was another level to Aleksey’s happiness that he was meant to look out for. He always thought he was just… happy, except for when they were arguing, and even then, he usually looked like he was having fun.

It felt like all of Kane’s friends (or rival, in Aleksey’s case) were enamoured with Euthalia Durand these days, and he didn’t have a clue why.

“So…” he said. “There _is_ something wrong with that running thing?”

“Ugh, yes,” Euthalia said, rolling her eyes. “It’s absolutely terrible, but I suppose Aleksey's sense of humor will never change no matter how long it's been."

“It’s only been four years since I, er—” Aleksey glanced at Kane in an entirely unsubtle manner. “— _t_ _hought_ of the idea. There’s no way I’m letting it go.”

“You’re such a loser.”

“Takes one to know one.”

They smiled at each other again. Kane pretended to gag. Not that they noticed.

“I thought it was Corvi who Lady Euthalia was lovebirds with, not you,” Kane commented, maybe a touch too loudly.

There was a beat of silence, and then Euthalia started laughing as Aleksey’s face steadily turned a dark red. “That’s hilarious!” she crowed. “The absolute funniest thing you could have ever said to me! Oh yeah, me and _Aleksey Volkov_! The boy standing right next to me! Ha! That’ll be the day!” She bent over, practically wheezing while Aleksey moaned into his hands, his ears red.

Kane blinked. “What did I say?”

“Don’t,” Aleksey said, strangled. “Just, no. Not even if you paid me. Not even if you gave me a love potion specifically tailored towards her.”

“Love potions don’t exist,” Kane felt compelled to say.

“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure about that,” Aleksey muttered. He peeked through his fingers at him, then his face turned redder and he hid himself behind his hands again.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Euthalia wheezed.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“ _Shut up_!”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady, Aleksey,” Kane scolded, trying to find something normal in their interactions.

“Oh she doesn’t care.”

“He’s right, I don’t,” Euthalia said, nodding sagely as she slowly came down for her hysteria.

“Still,” he tried. Even though he was learning that Euthalia Durand had apparently never been the icy noblewoman she had always presented herself as, he couldn’t quite stop himself from thinking of her as such. Aleksey lowered his hands, eyeing him oddly. Euthalia looked thoughtful.

“My apologies, Lord Kane,” she said slowly. She soothed her hands over her dress and rolled her shoulders back. “We’re a bit all over the place, aren’t we? Aleksey, why don’t you and I go and talk alone, so we can stop confusing Lord Kane like this?”

“Uh, oh. Yeah, alright.” Aleksey nodded. “Yeah, I guess we’re being a bit weird. Sorry Kane.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Kane sighed.

“Whatever,” he muttered. Aleksey frowned and opened his mouth, but Euthalia grabbed his arm before he could start.

“Well, we’ll be on our way then,” she said and tugged Aleksey away. Kane watched Aleksey mutter something to her that made her snicker, and he narrowed his eyes. Everyone had been acting so goddamn weird since Corvi started hanging around Euthalia again. Rene was in denial about it and Vincent didn’t like thinking about it, but Kane was determined to figure out just what was going on with Euthalia Durand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, we have officially met all of the capture targets! And, oh my, what's this?
> 
> This is the last chapter I have pre-written so from now on I'll just be posting chapters as I finish them. No idea when that'll be! I'm trying to focus on my other WIPs right now so we'll see


	8. The One Where There's An Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we see the results of the events of last chapter! I tried to fit in a ton into this chapter, but I hope it wasn't too much. I assure you though, this is only the first of many conversations these two will have throughout this story
> 
> Enjoy!

_Are you making a bunch of medieval fantasy nobles fucking_ Naruto run _as a training exercise?_

Of all the ways Aleksey expected to be found out, it just figured that it would be while he was doing something stupid. He hadn’t really thought that there was anyone to call him out on it, so he couldn’t help playing a bit of a prank on his peers. It was all in good fun. Of course, Euthalia was never one to let him get away with anything.

“You’re so goddamn stupid,” she said, but she couldn’t quite manage to frown.

“I’m iconic,” Aleksey said. “I’m keeping the legend alive, even in a whole other life.”

“It’s _Naruto_.”

“Which is _iconic_.”

“I literally hate you.”

“Is that any way to talk to an old friend?” He laughed as Euthalia jabbed him in the side. He was sort of grateful that this body wasn’t ticklish. She wouldn’t have let it go if it were.

Now that he was looking, he could see where she overlapped. Euthalia, now, and Euthalia, then, back before her name was ‘Euthalia’. Her face wasn’t the same, but the way she frowned and scrunched her nose was. How she walked and fumbled when she was facing someone else. He could even see how she may have accidentally become a villainess—she never _was_ the best at finding her words, or being open in front of strangers.

It worried him, a little.

“So,” he said before an awkward silence could fall over them, “magic. I get why you’re so obsessed with it now.”

“I am not _obsessed_ ,” she snapped back, just like he knew she would. “I’m just interested in the possible applications to—”

“Everyday life and technology as well as the influence it would have on the earth itself, I know, I know,” he said, rolling his eyes, but he was smiling. He had overheard the rant a few times, back before she had started holding her tongue around Prince Rene, but it was also exactly the same hypothetical rant she had made in the past. She was obsessed with magic then, too. It figured that the moment it was real, she would dive headfirst into it.

“If I’m obsessed with magic, _you’re_ an adrenaline junkie,” Euthalia huffed.

“I can’t believe we’re a nerd-jock pair. I’m sorry, but this is as far as we go; I just can’t fall in love with you.”

She gasped, a falsely stricken expression crossing her face. “Why? What did I do?”

“It’s not you, it’s me,” he said solemnly. “You see, I… I’m gay as fuck.”

Euthalia broke character then, collapsing into laughter. She clutched her stomach and Aleksey joined her. They stood in the middle of the empty hallway, their laughter practically echoing, and something he didn’t realize was missing slotted back into place. He loved this world, the friends and family he had made here—but having his friend back, who knew his past and the world they used to come from, meant more than he could ever try to explain.

“Okay, okay,” Euthalia wheezed, regaining control of herself. “We should talk somewhere more private. My dorm?”

“Oh but Lady Euthalia, what would the _people_ say?”

She unsuccessfully attempted to smother her laughter behind a cough. “Stop making me laugh! People can talk if they want to. It doesn’t matter to me.”

That was a lie if he had ever heard one. “Let’s go out to town instead,” he suggested. “We can go to a restaurant, or go shopping or something.”

Euthalia made a face. “Ugh, don’t remind me of _that_ shitshow. Town sounds good.” Her eyes brightened with mischief, the way she did when she had an idea. “We should buy _disguises_.”

“Oh my god yes.”

They borrowed a carriage from the school, and Aleksey was witness to Euthalia’s “noble girl” transformation right before his eyes as she demanded to use it. Back straight, eyes narrowed, tone icy with absolutely no room for arguments. He sort of thought she might even Draco Malfoy the whole thing, right down to _My father will hear about this_. He was a little disappointed when she didn’t.

They were entirely conspicuous in their bright, expensive uniforms, and got more than a few stares when they headed into a regular clothing shop. The employees were nervously buzzing around, probably worried about what nobles wanted. Aleksey really felt for them—customer service sucked, and it probably sucked even more in a monarch country where nobles could also freely use magic and get people executed.

Naturally, all they did was buy clothes. Much more casual, with less unnecessary accessory and signs of status. Euthalia even wore pants instead of a dress, her hair tied up in a pretty blue ribbon. It wasn’t the most popular choice for a young woman—either noble or common—but since it was in the store, it was technically acceptable. Aleksey thought she looked much more comfortable that way. They both did.

The restaurant they chose to go to was small and simple, with numerous groups of people sitting at the tables, talking and laughing with each other. They were greeted with a smile at the door and led to their own table, the host smiling slyly at what she probably assumed was a date. Aleksey exchanged a glance with Euthalia and she grinned.

As the host left them with their menus, her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “Ah, heteronormativity,” she sighed. “It’s always so funny.”

Aleksey snorted. “No kidding. Speaking of being gay—”

“Pan ace. I will not take this erasure.”

“Speaking of being occasionally interested in people of the same gender,” he corrected, “how are you and Lyssa?”

Euthalia blinked and her expression shut down. “Ah.”

“Euthalia…”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I like Lyssa. She’s a cool person and a really good friend. As expected of the heroine, you know? But I’m the villainess, the minor antagonist. I’ve been trying not to think about it.”

Aleksey nodded. Euthalia had always been a little cautious of romance, even when she knew someone liked her. He couldn’t fault her for being even moreso in this life. “Do you like her?” he asked, because he honestly didn’t know. He had seen her crushing on people from afar, but she had always been subtler in her emotions. The only times he knew she had a crush was when she had told him. She could like Lyssa, or she could love her like a friend. All he had been able to figure out was that Lyssa was different from most of the others in Euthalia's eyes.

“Aleksey, honestly, I don’t think I’ll feel anything for anyone until after graduation,” she said. “I’ve got a lot to plan for and no time for anything else. I already made a deal with Enea for when I got kicked out of nobility.”

“What? Euthalia, that’s not going to happen.” There was no way Lyssa would let that happen, even if Rene tried it. Theo thought Euthalia was too funny to let her leave, and Kane would yell at Rene for having his head in his ass (with kinder words, because he was surprisingly sensitive to swearing).

“This is a game world. It’s bound to.”

Aleksey stared.

And stared.

And stared some more.

He thought that after all the transmigration novels she had read, she would know better.

“Bro,” he said. “Babe. Love of my life. The only girl I would ever straight-marry for tax benefits.”

“Did you just call me bro and babe in the same sentence?”

“They were their own separate sentences.” He reached over the table and took her hands in his. “My dearest, closest, and amazingly stupid friend—”

“Wow.”

“—you are literally falling into the same trap that all shoujo isekai girl protagonists fall into if they’re not the ones actively trying to change their fate,” he said seriously. “This? This is the real world. _Our_ world, now. You can’t live like we’re just… in some VR game or something. The choices we made for the past three years are nothing like the choices the game forced us to make.”

Euthalia propped her cheek on her palm, red eyes staring daggers into him, and he knew it wasn’t getting through to her. This probably wasn’t the best time for them to have this conversation, but he hoped he had at least planted the idea in her head.

He scrubbed his hands through his hair and sighed. “Anyway, there’s no way I could ever be in love with Lyssa,” he reasoned, deliberately switching from his earlier serious tone.

It did the trick. Euthalia sat up with an amused huff. “Oh, yeah, how’s that going for you? Like, do your parents…?”

“My parents know, and they’re fine with it,” he assured her. It was probably some sort of terrible that he wouldn’t be giving them an heir, but his parents were good people. If he never had children, they would be happy, and if he wanted to adopt, his children would be their family. He had cried when they told little twelve-year-old him that.

“That’s good.” Euthalia smiled, relieved.

“Yeah. I’m really grateful. But I do wish my mom would stop looking at all my knights-in-training like they would kidnap me.”

She snorted. “Please, you wouldn’t date another knight. You’d get bored. If anything, you’re probably into… hm, let’s see.” She tapped a finger to her chin. He suddenly felt alarmed.

“Uh, no, no, you really shouldn’t—”

“Oh my god,” she said. “It’s totally Kane, isn’t it?” He groaned, practically melting in his seat and covering his face with his hands. There was no way he wasn’t totally red. She laughed at him loudly enough that he was sure at least a few people were looking their way.

“Your taste is _terrible_ ,” she choked out. “Back then, you really loved both princes too, didn’t you? Now you’re friends with one of them and well-liked by the other. You’re such a disaster.”

“I’m better than you,” he said into his hands. His relationships had usually ended up going very smoothly, while she hadn’t ever had the guts to pursue any possible relationships. When she cared, anyway. She had tended more towards being possessive over her few friendships instead.

“No you’re not,” Euthalia said, kicking him lightly in the shin. “You like a playboy. _The_ playboy, even.” He couldn’t help that Kane wasn’t actually that bad of a guy, and that Aleksey’s taste was slim but muscular boys with messy hair and charming grins. “Haah, why couldn’t you be in love with Enea?” Euthalia sighed sadly. “He would treat you well, and you’re friends, too.”

“Enea’s terrifying; what the hell are you talking about?” He loved the guy, but he also didn’t want to catch him alone in a dark alleyway.

“Yeah but other than that. A+ boyfriend material. Ten-out-of-ten.”

“If you like him so much, why don’t you date him?”

“Ew, that nerd?"

"Hello pot. It's been a while."

The kick to his shin wasn't very painful. Euthalia rolled her eyes and started to say something, but that was when their server came and asked if they were ready to order. Both of them having forgotten to look at the menu, they asked for a few more minutes. When the server left, they burst into giggles as they looked through the menu.

“Okay but I have to ask,” Euthalia said after the server came a second time and they had ordered. “How did you become friends with Enea? He doesn’t even like Prince Theo all that much, and he really respects him. More than he respects Rene, anyway.”

Aleksey lit up. It had actually been easy to make friends with Enea once he had figured him out. It was also a little funny, and he wondered what Enea’s taste in friends said about him. “It’s pretty simple, actually—all of the people Enea likes have one thing in common: we all push him.”

Euthalia blinked. “What?”

“Listen, Enea’s thing is that he’s surrounded by idiots constantly, but he also doesn’t like Theo because Theo’s… well, Theo’s kind of a dick sometimes, and they both want to be in control all the time so they clash.”

“True,” she said.

“But Enea likes us because we’re _not_ idiots.”

Euthalia raised an eyebrow, eyeing him incredulously. “You sure about that?”

Aleksey kicked her lightly. “I’ll have you know I’m above average.”

“Because math is math no matter the world, but I know for a fact that you’re below average in history and language arts. Especially history. You suck at history.”

“Okay, _not_ the point I was trying to get at. _Anyway_ , the thing is that me, you, and Lyssa all challenge him without pushing his boundaries. Like, I make him think on his feet and force him to be nice to people, you debate him and take risks in your research that he wouldn’t dare, and Lyssa is Lyssa. Once you figure out how to interact with him, it’s easy.”

Euthalia leaned back in her seat. “Huh. I never noticed.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to; I doubt even Lyssa noticed.” But unlike Lyssa, Aleksey had had experience. His lips quirked upwards as he looked at Euthalia for a long while. “But then again,” he added, “maybe I noticed because I’m the one Enea went to about why you were avoiding him.”

“Oh, that’s why you said that to me?” she asked

That, and it was obvious even before he remembered. “Yup. Everyone thinks he’s _so cool_ but actually he’s kind of childish. He was practically in tears whenever you looked away from him.”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes, but Aleksey was only slightly exaggerating. Enea might not have been in tears, but it had clearly bothered him. It was only a matter of time before Euthalia figured it out too. Enea was not subtle.

The food came as their conversation shifted. It wasn’t better than what the chefs made at home, or even at school, but Aleksey liked the simplicity of it. They tasted like home-cooked meals, instead of high-end restaurant ones. Euthalia looked like she agreed as her eyes lit up at the spread before her. She probably missed casual food more than he did.

“Hey,” he said thoughtfully. “I have a terrible idea.”

She looked up in the middle of taking a bite and motioned for him to go on.

“We should dye my hair pink again.”

Euthalia blinked. Took a few more bites of her food. Swallowed. Opened her mouth. “Hell yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >>Mini Theatre<<  
> Euthalia, putting down her fork: Oh my god  
> Aleksey: What?  
> Euthalia: You've finally achieved your dream of becoming a himbo  
> Aleksey:  
> Aleksey: *slams hands on table* FUCK YEAH
> 
> When these two are together, they share the braincell, but turns out Aleksey has most of it.  
> Really love the way that Euthalia's speech changes depending on who she's talking to. As you can see here, she's more comfortable with Aleksey than she is with anyone else. Sorry for those who were rooting for Enea, but Aleksey has taken BFF spot (jkjk they can share it)
> 
> Deleted scene:
> 
> "You know, maybe this is actually _your_ otome game," Euthalia said thoughtfully.
> 
> "Uh, what?"
> 
> "I'm pretty sure you're stealing all of Lyssa's capture targets. First there's Kane, obviously. You're like the enemies to rivals to friends to lovers trope come to life. Then Prince Theo and Enea adore you, and Rene also likes you a hell of a lot. Really, it's only Vincent who doesn't like you, and that's just because he doesn't like anyone who isn't Lyssa or the Crown Prince."
> 
> Aleksey blinked rapidly. The thought sent a terrified shiver down his back. "...I don't want to be involved in the shitshow that makes up all of my friends and Vincent."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is literally a never-ending daily life arc so I take suggestions sometimes!


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